Susan Anderson
took over leadership of Beaver Folk Dancing in October, 2004. She was a Beaver
folk dancer from way back and often substituted on Wednesday nights when needed,
Sue promotes the use of live music at dances both through her folk band,
International Folk Sounds (the "IFS") and through her advocating of Open
Orchestras. She is also currently president of the Folk Dance Council of the Delaware
Valley. A versatile musician, she plays keyboard, fiddle, guitar, gaida,
tamboura, mandolin, balalaika.... And what a skier!
Ricci Dichter is Ms. Event person. Just mention a special event, whether a workshop or a concert, and Ricci is carrying flyers to other groups, making announcements and
telephone calls,
spamming the folk world with an e-mail announcement, making humus and cutting up pita bread, and generally drumming up
business. Plus, she drums the dumbek! What a whirlwind!
Anne Ehrhart
sings with
Svitanja and has been a dancer-singer with the Philadelphia Revels. She is the "woman to watch" for her grace, styling, and enthusiasm. Whether it is a difficult new dance or an easy oldie,
Anne's enthusiasm is infectious. Experienced dancers will follow her, and beginners always learn from her.
She has occasionally subbed on Wednesday nights when needed. Daughter Leela
(also a Svitanja singer) leads
occasionally too.
Sandy
and Elaine Jacobs are longtime Beaver dancers, and leaders in many
dance venues. They also help out by guest-leading on Wednesdays when needed, and
do much to support folk dancing in the area...when they are not globe-hopping to
Thailand, Russia, Brazil, or wherever!
Norman Lampert has been teaching and leading folk dancing in the Philly area since the seventies, notably at Drexel on Friday nights, "in the old days." Beginners at Beaver Folk Dancing are sometimes pleasantly non-plussed to find themselves suddenly dancing just with Norman, who takes them under his wing for private instruction on the sidelines. Norman has been extraordinarily helpful to the group over the years, filling
in on Wednesday nights from time to time, introducing new dance material, shlepping equipment, and just generally "being there." Also a Poet, Musician, Dreamer, and Wearer of Funny T-Shirts.
Peggy Leiby just does it all. She wandered in to one of our Wednesday
night dance sometime back in the '80s--it seems like only yesterday--and today she is
everywhere. Contra dancing, clogging with Fiddlekicks, a musician with SPUDS on
recorder and concertina, Festival Director for the annual Heritage Dance Festival, maintainer of the
Places to Dance web site, Executive
Director of Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble
and much, much more. But she still often dances with us on Wednesday, and has been a tremendous help with our publicity: press releases, newspaper calendar listings and the like might never have gotten done without her.
John Matulis,
accordionist extraordinaire and leader of ZIMA Eastern European Ensemble, plays
for dancing
on the second Wednesday of most months. John's wife, Dottie Yacek, a musician and singer with ZIMA, is also seen at many folk festivals as a vendor with her Eastern European Emporium, with a vast array of goods such as books, clothing, folk
arts and greeting cards.
Bill and
Carol Wadlinger began the Wednesday night group at Beaver College
(now Arcadia University) in
1977 and continued to lead the group until October, 2004, when they "passed the
torch" to Sue Anderson. (They fully expect that Sue will also lead the group for
the same amount of time, which will put her in her late 80s when she passes the
torch in turn!) At about the same time, Bill arranged for a Saturday night folk dance party which met for many years on the second Saturday of the month, led by Don Goldberg and Leila Lazar.
Since then, they have arranged countless workshops, concerts and special events, often in conjunction with other organizations,
including the Folk Dance Council of the Delaware Valley, the Penn Folk Dancers, the Folk Dance Center of Philadelphia, and the Folk Life Center at International House of Philadelphia.